Kondupohju
Kondupohju (Russ. Кондопога, Finn. Kontupohja) is a Uralican city, situated 54 km north of Petroskoi in Karelia county. It is on Highway UH-7B, and is nestled between Lake Nigozero (to the north) and Lake Onega (to the south). Forestry production has been the traditional industry of the city, and it is still the third-largest producer of paper in Uralica after Viipuri and Veliski. However, since most of Uralica's lumber is imported these days (Uralica has a ban on both the import and the export of raw logs), the industry has shifted focus. With the amount of metal Uralica produces, Kondupohju has used their history of forestry to their advantage, and now produce more heavy machinery specific to sawmills and pulp-and-paper mills than any other city in the former Soviet Union area. There are also food production, hi-tech, consumer-goods manufacturing, and stationary heavy-machinery sectors in the city. 2006 Riot Over two years before Kondupohju's annexation, and just under a year and a half before Uralica even existed, there was a massive riot between ethnic Russians/Karelians and people of Caucasian origin, mainly Chechens and Azeris, that rocked Kondupohju. It all started when an Azeri restaurant owner was given a hard time by several Russian diners for having cheap vodka in the bottle of a premium brand. So he called in a Chechen "rescue team," but by the time they arrived, those diners had left, so they began attacking random people. 2 were killed and 23 injured in the initial incident. The fact that the police did nothing infuriated locals, who took matters into their own hands three days later, rioting against local law enforcement and targeting Chechen businesses. It should have come to a head on 2 September when a meeting was called by the town hall about the situation, with a bunch of Russian extremists having arrived to protest the treatment of ethnic Russians by "illegal aliens" in the area. However, a group of Chechens decided to retaliate for the previous riot by attacking Russian extremists. This triggered the real riot - a six-day brouhaha that resulted in two hundred deaths, over a thousand wounded, over nine thousand arrests, and the resignation of half of the city council, including the mayor, over lack of police action during the initial incident. Some 26 months later, upon Kondupohju's annexation, Russian lobbyists called for a revisitation to the whole thing. One testimony of what followed came from Chief Justice Yuri Shvidki, an ethnic Ukrainian who had taken up residence in Uralica. 24 extremists were charged with contempt of court and disturbing the peace, and after brief trials before only a judge, were convicted and expelled from Uralica, with no possibility of return. In the end, a hundred fifteen Chechens, fifty-two Russians, six Karelians, and the Azeri restaraunt owner were all convicted for their leading roles in the riot. Of these, five of the initial fifteen Chechens were convicted for first-degree murder with bigoted intent, the other ten initials, seventeen of the other Chechens, and twenty-eight of the fifty-two Russians were charged with second-degree murder with bigoted intent because of the main riot, while the others were all charged with felonious assault. Various other charges, including felonious assault, petty theft, destruction of private property, destruction of public property, and arson, were also made. Those convicted with the "with bigoted intent" tag got extra years, ranging from one year for those charged with minor offences to ten years in the case of the five Chechens charged with first-degree murder, who have life plus ten years without parole. Furthermore, the police officers and the former Karelian leader who had done nothing were tried and convicted on corruption and are now spending twenty years apiece in a Uralican prison. The Azeri restaurant owner was convicted of conspiracy, inciting riots, and criminal negligence causing death, and given thirty years in prison. All charges filed against Chechens who were not involved simply on the basis of them being Chechen were dropped concisely, with some ending up in the civil courts as defamation lawsuits by the accused. Jarkko Salomäki had this to say at the end of proceedings in mid-December. Culture Ethnic Russians, Finns, and Karelians make up the bulk of Kondupohju's population, with small populations of Olonets Karelians and Livonians, and about four hundred Chechens who had moved to Finland after the 2006 riots but back to the area after the Unjust War. Because of its location, Kondupohju has tried for years to bring itself up to snuff with the stereotypical "tourist trap cities," but since Uralica has pumped millions into the city, it has finally begun to receive recognition as a tourist haven. The Kondupohju Civic Museum has been restored to its former glory, possessing masterworks of Karelian and local Russian painters, and a history of the area from its Karelian origins to the Pre-Robertian Era. But more importantly, it has been marketed as a paradise for those who enjoy fishing and water sports. The surrounding rivers and lakes are "packed" (quote Vaido Kuik on that) with fish, and just up the road from the suburb of Niinimäki is the Suna River, which has many rapids on it and is very popular for rafting and kayaking enthusiasts. There is one place of architectural note as well - the Dormition Church, which is 225 years old and contains a 42 m-high tent roof, an architectural feature that is said to have its origins in the north of Russia. Sport Football (Soccer) Kolmonen *FK Kondupohju Nelonen *Karjalan JK Kondupohju *Onega Kondupohju Other Pro/Semi-Pro *Spartak Kondupohju *Dynamo Kondupohju *Kondupohju Chechens FK *Lesnik Kondupohju *Bumazhnik Kondupohju *Mashinostroitel Kondupohju *Kontupohjan Palloherho *Atlantis Kondupohju *Zapad Kondupohju *UralTek Kondupohju *Severstal Kondupohju *BumagaMash Kondupohju *Promyshlennik Kondupohju *Start Kondupohju Bandy *Bumazhnik Bandyklub Kondupohju Ice Hockey *Bumazhnik HK Kondupohju Handball *Kondupohjun KPK Neighbourhoods and Suburbs *Nigostrov (accessible only by boat) *Syur'ga *Niinimäki *Zady Category:Settlements of Uralica Category:Cities